Your vagina might not feel normal after kids, but you're not alone

Christa Thompson is the Editor in Chief of thefairytaletraveler.com a travel, lifestyle, and film blog in the pop culture vertical. She is a convention panel host, public speaker, single mom, and entrepreneur. She's been featured on RTE ...

If your vagina is dry as the desert after childbirth, don't be alarmed

Ah, yes, so you've just had a baby. Surprise! Your vagina went through the most stressful experience any organ of the human body will ever naturally go through. And you remember it clearly, I am sure. Did you think it was going to shoot out a mini human and not see some consequences?

But it's not just the childbirth: It's the whole pregnancy and storm of hormones that are taking over your body as you once knew it, and, well, transitioning you from pre-baby lady to post-baby lady. And how do I know this? Well not only am I a mother, but I’m a CST (certified surgical technologist). As a healthcare professional and as part of my education, it’s my job to know about the reproductive system.

Vaginal dryness is just one more thing we deal with that men will never understand. But for many, it's a regular issue. I mean, seriously, let's put it out there: There's nothing like a drought in an intimate area to sidetrack you from being you.

See, there are two main hormones that play a role during pregnancy: estrogen and progesterone. They are responsible for our periods. Yay. When you're pregnant, these hormones shoot through the roof. When you deliver your precious bundle of joy, your hormone levels drop as quickly as 24 hours postpartum. And if you're breastfeeding, your estrogen will drop even more.

So what does estrogen have to do with the vaginal desert?

Estrogen plays a role in sexual arousal by boosting blood to your girly parts and increasing vaginal lubrication. Women with low estrogen will have symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats and (you guessed it) vaginal dryness.

Your thyroid and vaginal dryness

Vaginal dryness can also be caused by a nasty little thing called postpartum thyroiditis. This is when your thyroid gets inflamed after childbirth. When this happens, the thyroid will over- or underproduce its natural hormones when it's inflamed.

While thyroiditis isn't as common as low estrogen levels, it still might be still a factor, and you should look into it if you think this relates to you.

So, wait… what about my sex life?

Surprise again! When you stretch your vagina to its limit, things happen. It becomes thinner and more prone to injury. This means sex can cause irritability, like burning and itching, even bleeding. (One more thing no one tells you when you're a little girl playing with your baby dolls.)

As you go through pregnancy, you may as well wave that "Miss America wave" goodbye to your lady flower as you knew it. However, if you're lucky, your bits will return to normal once you stop breastfeeding.

Mine never did.

So what can you do?

So let's be real — sexy time doesn't stop just because you're steaming bottle nipples. Momma needs action, and momma should get it. You can enjoy sex, even though your vagina just ran the marathon of marathons.

Vagisil has a new product called Vagisil ProHydrateto provide dryness relief that feels like your own natural moisture, so you can feel like yourself and enjoy intimacy again. So it's something that's working on you all the time. It's not an intimacy product and does not focus on sex, but more on the problem. There's an emotional benefit here as well: feeling like yourself after going through such a huge change in your life is a relief, and can help you keep your focus on more important things.

So while you might be thinking that your vagina's party has come to a bitter end, there's a solution. So whip out the party hat (and maybe a blindfold; I don't know what you're into) and celebrate. You can thank me later.